Rio was built as an exhibition boat for the Baltic Exhibition in 1914, where she was in the “Sport and Recreation” department. She was designed to be an ‘ideal’ boat and is therefore not extreme in any way but rather “classic”.
The first year Rio was owned by the Plym family and won a couple of regattas. She was sold to Axel Åberg in the summer of 1915, who was constantly last.
In 1922 and 1923 she quickly resumed, probably because of a shift from her Gunter to Marconi rig.
Rio still sails very well and has received a number of top positions in veteran boat events over the past 10 years.
Rio had changed her name ten times before we bought her in 1988. Today she is in good original condition after extensive renovation. Rio is complete with the entire original decor, plush curtains, genuine carpet, library and tissue gramophone. In the summer of 2014, after 20 years of exploration, we finally found a suitable dinghy, now renamed Grande, that is so small that it can be found on Rio’s aft deck.
Awards
Rio received the GYS Veteran Boat Scholarship in 2000 and the SSKF Records for Worthy Conservation in 2005. The boat also has a career in radio, movies and TV with the long movie “Rosa the Movie” 2007 and a season of “Morden in Sandhamn” 2012 on the merit list. Sweden’s Radio has the sound of Rio’s bronze winch recorded in its archive, and has used it in a number of different programs.
